County Buys Several Acres from Leesburg

Loudoun to buy 145 acres for county facilities.

At its Dec. 4 meeting, the Board of Supervisors approved an expenditure of $5.5 million for the purchase of almost 145 acres of land in the Leesburg magisterial district. Lewis Rauch, director of the Office of Capital Construction, said the land would allow the county to expand the facilities the county already has on adjacent property.

The tract of land being acquired is off Sycolin Road, near Leesburg Executive Airport.

Rauch said the county services currently housed on the neighboring property, and likely to expand onto the new purchase, include transportation facilities, Parks and Recreation space, some human services and public safety facilities such as Fire and Rescue and a Sheriff’s Office presence. "The idea is to give us the flexibility to expand as needed," he said.

The land is vacant and will likely be built out over the course of the next 10 years or so, said Rauch. He said the county would probably work out a master plan for construction with the Town of Leesburg and neighboring property owners.

The price, he said, is a bargain, as the property was appraised at more than $7 million. "It should satisfy our needs for a pretty good period of time," said Rauch.